Students Charged with Hacking MTN Nigeria and Stealing N1.9bn in Airtime and Data

Two students, Timothy Oluwabukola from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Anthony Odemerho from Resign Regal Academy, have been charged by the Police Special Fraud Unit for allegedly hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication Plc’s systems and stealing N1.9 billion worth of airtime and data.

The suspects were brought before the Federal High Court in Lagos. They face charges of conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN web-based platform called Application Programming Interface (API), and illegal conversion of data.

The police prosecutor, Justine Enang, told the court that the crimes were committed with help from others who are still at large.

He said Oluwabukola and Odemerho, who are students in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Benin City, Edo State, committed these crimes between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states.

Enang explained that the defendants accessed MTN’s API and used the data they obtained to steal N1.9 billion from the company. These actions violate sections of the Cybercrime Act and the Money Laundering Act.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor asked for a trial date and requested that the defendants be held in a correctional center until the trial.

The defense lawyers said they had already filed bail applications for their clients and had given copies to the prosecutor.

He asked the court for a short date to enable him to study the applications and respond to them accordingly.

The prosecutor confirmed receiving the bail applications and asked for more time to review them. Judge Akintayo Aluko then adjourned the case to August 5, 2024, to hear the bail applications.